RuneScape is famous for turning clicking on a tree into a lifestyle. Melvor Idle, which PC Gamer says bills itself as a RuneScape-inspired idle adventure, leans all the way into making numbers go up. Now the sequel is getting Jagex's official blessing.
Jagex has partnered with developer Games by Malcs to make Melvor Idle 2 an official RuneScape spinoff, PC Gamer reports. The game has picked up a subtitle, A RuneScape Adventure. According to PC Gamer, Jagex's announcement blog says "Melvor Idle takes a lot of inspiration from RuneScape and you can just feel it," that Jagex's support and branding are meant to help make the game "even bigger", and that while "Melvor Idle 2 doesn't take place in Gielinor, we think a fan-built idle game inspired by our MMOs is more than worthy of the title."
So Jagex acknowledges this RuneScape adventure isn't set in RuneScape's world. PC Gamer's writer admits readers "might find it a bit odd".
When you can play it
The game's Steam store page lists Games by Malcs as developer and Jagex as publisher, with a planned release date of 17 November 2026 in Early Access. The page pitches it as a "brand-new RuneScape idle adventure" and says a demo is available to download now.
The developers write on the Steam page that the game could take "up a total of 12-18 months" in Early Access to complete all planned content, and that "the price will remain the same upon full release." They also say some Skills, Combat content and quality-of-life features are still to come during that period.
What's in it
The Steam page promises 29 Skills in total, including five new ones, a maximum level of 120 and future DLCs that raise the level cap further. It also lists quests with quest bosses, a day/night cycle and weather, new game modes, an in-game mod manager and offline progression "at the same speed as when actively playing". Cloud saves are designed to work across PC and mobile, though the page marks mobile as "when available".
It also says plainly that "the game contains no microtransactions." PC Gamer points out that the announcement makes the same promise, which matters for a series tied to an MMO with what PC Gamer calls its "fair share of monetization controversies."
Not the first Jagex team-up
PC Gamer notes that Jagex became publisher of the first Melvor Idle five years ago, without putting the RuneScape name on it. What's new is the branding: a fan-built game inspired by RuneScape now carries RuneScape's name.
Riley's take: There is something extremely online about a game built on the joy of watching skill bars fill turning into an official spinoff of the game that taught a generation to care about skill bars. The no-microtransactions line on the Steam page is the part to hold Jagex and Games by Malcs to. Branding is free, but trust in an idle game is built entirely on not being nudged to pay for the idling. If early access on 17 November keeps that promise, RuneScape fans who no longer have the time for RuneScape have a very tidy new home.
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